Psychological distress, but not depression, may increase the risk of stroke, according to a study published in the March 4, 2008, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Previous studies have shown that stroke often leads to depression, but the evidence was mixed as to whether depression could lead to stroke.
“Stroke is among the leading causes of long-term disability and death worldwide,” said study author Paul Surtees, PhD, of the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. “Understanding the mechanisms by which overall emotional health may increase stroke risk may inform stroke prevention and help identify those at increased stroke risk.” [continue reading…]
Older men with lower levels of the male sex hormone testosterone in their blood may be more prone to depression, a study suggests.
BBCÂ Health News, March 4,2008
A study of about 4,000 men aged over 70 found those with lowest testosterone were three times more likely to be depressed than those with the most.
Researchers suspect the hormone may affect levels of key brain chemicals.
The study, by the University of Western Australia, features in Archives of General Psychiatry. [continue reading…]
Happiness in life is as much down to having the right genetic mix as it is to personal circumstances according to a recent study.
Psychologists at the University of Edinburgh working with researchers at Queensland Institute for Medical Research in Australia found that happiness is partly determined by personality traits and that both personality and happiness are largely hereditary. [continue reading…]
The theory that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance is often presented in the media as fact even though there is little scientific evidence to support it, according to a new study co-authored by a Florida State University visiting lecturer.
Jeffrey Lacasse, an FSU doctoral candidate and visiting lecturer in the College of Social Work, and Jonathan Leo, a neuroanatomy professor at Lincoln Memorial University in Tennessee, found that reporters who included statements in news articles about depression being caused by a chemical imbalance, or a lack of serotonin in the brain, were unable to provide scientific evidence to support those statements. [continue reading…]
